“She was fine; I just think she found it very uncomfortable,” Simon practically purred in his English accent.

“Yeah, she’s not a big talker!” Ellen chimed in.

“I didn’t realize that,” Simon said with a slight chuckle. “I’ve never booked someone who couldn’t talk, which is a bit of a problem.”

“She wasn’t comfortable being negative,” Simon continued. “She didn’t like it when the contestants spoke back to her. She was just uncomfortable.”

Despite Britney’s lack of interest as a judge, Simon says “I liked her” but is looking forward to working with the new additions to the judging panel. And if you’re worried that Simon being on an all-female panel will pose a problem, never fear. “I like working with girls,” Simon told Ellen. Uh oh. Hope having a baby boy (reportedly!) won’t be an issue...